


Black Feather

by Scribbleness



Category: Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020), Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy XV
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:00:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25989349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scribbleness/pseuds/Scribbleness
Summary: Squall, Cloud, Prompto, Ignis, Gladiolus, and Noctis were captured from an attack in the kingdom of Insomnia and locked in an uncharted territory. The only hint they had when one of their captors talked too much was that one of them was a besotted "twin.” Meanwhile, the women who knew them sought out together to save them, which may trigger something even more perilous. [CROSSOVER of VII, VIII, and XV]
Relationships: Aranea Highwind/Ignis Scientia, Lunafreya Nox Fleuret/Noctis Lucis Caelum, Rinoa Heartilly/Squall Leonhart, Tifa Lockhart/Cloud Strife
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	Black Feather

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Anything that is not mine, is not mine. The games, the characters, they are not mine. The concept of the story is mine, but the elements added that were not originally mine, are definitely not mine. I hope that's enough disclaimer!

Marble pillars. Those were the first things that stole his attention when he stepped out of the car. Towering marble pillars standing before a wide marble staircase just beyond the gigantic onyx gates. Uniformed Glaives stood still along both sides of the marbled pathway, their hoods down and eyes frozen onward. And before them was a shorter yet more elaborate structure of marbled columns, windows, and a door with emblems of weapons wielded by Lucis' past monarchs. The other cadets that came with him marvelled just the same at the white and cold yet unbelievably pure and regal sight of their welcome, and he briefly wondered if this was what it meant to be a royalty— to be privileged with all the unthinkable luxuries and more. And to think it was not _the_ Citadel yet, but merely an annex inside Insomnia built for events meant to be open to the public, to commoners like himself. Or so they were told.

A hand patted his back. "So, Kingsglaive, huh?"

He turned to his friend. His usually untidy black hair was groomed and pulled back, accentuating the cross scar on his cheek and cleared his blue eyes of any stray lock. He scoffed at the rare sight of his friend all sharp and cleaned up.

"Yeah."

"Rinoa will be proud."

"So will Aerith."

"Yeah." His friend sighed as his eyes drank in the size and splendor of the place. "I wish I could bring her here with me."

He crossed his arms and surveyed the place. A few of the other cadets who came with them evidently worked harder to appear unamused by it while most of them were just as enthused as his friend. "Who knows? Maybe someday you will, Zack."

"Would be nice to take her somewhere else other than that church, you know?"

"Hm."

Zack patted his back again, harder this time, and strode ahead of him. "Let's see what's inside, Cloud."

"Right behind you."

The interiors had outdone his expectations, that much was clear to Cloud the moment they stepped further into the door. The tall glass windows had pearlish hues under the afternoon light of the sun, glinting the paintings adorning the ceiling with a sheen of spectrums of colors from every turn. And below them were black and gray tiles arranged in mosaics of shapes against the white of the marble. Waiting in front of them was a tall black seat with intricate carvings on its rests, accompanied by shorter chairs lined up on either side.

 _This must be where the King sits_ , he thought.

"I could get married here," Zack said, his head still tilted up at the ceiling.

"I don't know Zack. Last time I checked, Aerith is still in the right state of mind."

Zack grinned. "Yeah? Well, you just wait and watch. I will be the best decision she will ever make."

"Sure."

He heard the other cadets shuffle on their feet, a notice that the Captain had arrived. They all bumped their feet together and straightened themselves into a salute.

"At ease," the Captain ordered rather casually as he walked along the aisle. Cloud noticed that despite the significance of the event, the Captain kept his usual appearance of having his short black hair gelled neatly backward styled with a lone braid, and his stubble unshaved. He faced the cadets when he reached the front and scanned them.

"I just got off the phone with His Majesty's Advisor and was told that they will be arriving in approximately twenty minutes. That's excluding the arrival of the diplomats from Luca, Esthar, and Galbadia who will be arriving earlier. I strongly advise that you promptly take your seats and stay put. The King's time is precious, we don't want to hold him up here longer than he needs to be."

With his last words, the Captain swiftly turned around and walked by them toward the doors.

* * *

The convoy for the cadets were already parked neatly along the sides of the supposed driveway outside of the venue when Squall arrived. When their car stopped by the staircase, it was he who stepped out first to help Aranea out of the vehicle. She matched his black and gray suit with her long red and black dress styled with a slit along the legs and an ample opening on her chest to give a peak of her cleavage. It was a good choice of color, considering her silver-blond hair which did nothing to compliment her already pale skin. But the shade of red of her dress did flatter her green eyes, if Squall's opinion were to be of any significance, but slightly inappropriate in the presence of the King himself. She eyed the hand he held out with disbelief then raised her gaze to his face.

"I'm not the diplomat here," she snapped at him and stepped out of the car without taking his hand. Squall promptly withdrew it and composed himself, glancing around the place. Aranea peeked her head back inside the car and said something to the driver before shutting her door and standing beside Squall.

"Let's get this over with, shall we?" she said and walked past him. Squall remained silent as he followed her behind.

When they entered the place, he instinctively looked up at the paintings on the ceiling. He remembered his younger self's many attempts to decipher the story told by the painting during the times his father forced upon his company when his own presence was asked by the King in his droning events, just to pass the time. It wasn't until Aranea told him that they were actually portraits of a dragon, a queen, and her servant, all fighting each other and their battle lost in time. But no matter how long he stared at the depiction of the characters, he still found it impossible to make out each of the characters in the painting.

The Captain of the Kingsglaive approached them and bowed slightly.

"Commodore."

Aranea nodded back at him. "Captain Ulric."

The Captain turned to him. "And you must be Mr. Squall Loire."

Squall nodded at him. "Good day. Just Squall, please."

"Esthar's diplomats are getting younger." Captain Ulric smirked and held out a hand. "Glad you could join us."

Squall took his hand and shook it. "My father unfortunately could not keep his word to the King. He has immediate matters to attend to."

"Duty before luxury, as expected from President Laguna." Captain Ulric gestured to a seat beside the King's chair at the far front. "That's you, but the King won't be arriving until later. Make yourself at home 'til then." He then gave Aranea a smile and slightly bowed. "Aranea."

Aranea grinned and returned a nod. Her gaze stuck with Captain Ulric who moved along to welcome visitors from Luca, and tipped her head at him. "Only a few drinks missing and I'll be more than glad to wait a little longer with that looker."

Ignoring her remark, Squall glanced around the hall at the uniformed cadets who were clearly eager to be christened as new members of the King's royal army. And to be honest, so was he. The faster they could be done with it, the sooner he could go home.

It wasn't until a few minutes later when they were told of King Regis' arrival through the gate. Squall walked to his chair beside the diplomat of Luca, while Aranea stood by one of the front row seats. And the very moment the doors opened, everyone straightened themselves up more, if that was even possible. King Regis, in his usual detailed black raiment and his thin headpiece which almost blended into his graying hair, strode in with his familiar smile to his seat, maintaining a kingly tact in every stride. He caught Squall's eyes before positioning himself and whispered "Squall, you've grown taller!"

Squall nodded at him obligingly. "Your Majesty."

King Regis faced the soon-to-be-Glaives and smiled, nodding at them. After allowing a moment of pause, he took a deep breath before speaking. "I am most hopeful to have given you the warmest of welcome in this celebration of success. Your success. All those years of training which I am sure have tested every form of your strength have finally brought you to this honorable moment, your milestone in fighting and defending Lucis. Your perseverance, endurance, and grit have only proven that you are truly deserving of Lucis' trust. To be part of the Kingsglaive."

A cued clapping started a continuous stream of applause from the crowd. King Regis smiled. Then his smile quickly fell.

The doors opened again and more Glaives entered. One of the younger ones bearing a pair of rectangular spectacles approached the King from behind and whispered something that made the King frown. The Captain stood by the door, waiting expectantly with a tense expression and a composure that was ready to jump at command. With King Regis' nod, Captain Ulric bellowed.

"Code 311! Outside! Now!"

A flashing sound from his side then Aranea was on her feet. She rushed towards Squall and pulled him by his arm. Squall looked over his shoulder to see the King's chair already empty as they ran outside.

The Glaives, the cadets included, were already on their guard, their weapons materializing out of thin air. The skies were littered with large hovering black ships, and Squall didn't need to check at the wings to see the red and white emblems etched on them. He knew from their dragon-like shapes and the red glaring lights from their nooks that they were from Niflheim.

"To the car! Quickly now!" Aranea barked at him, pulling him in her grasp as they ran. When they reached their vehicle, Squall caught a glimpse of the King warping out of the gates with the Kingsglaive warping on his tail. He pulled out his gunblade from the underseat compartment and began running towards the gate.

"Squall!"

"The King!"

Aranea gritted her teeth together and growled. She pulled out a thick metal baton, swung it to her side to unravel a pointed lance that outstretched her, and rushed towards Squall.

"You prick! I'm supposed to get you to safety first!"

Before Squall could respond, armored soldiers jumped off from the impossible heights of the ship. They wielded rifles, blades, and lances, while one carried the flag of Niflheim.

Aranea whirled her lance to a fighting stance while Squall held his gunblade up.

"Not a scratch on you, Squall," Aranea warned.

Squall harrumphed in response and dashed towards one of the enemies, striking him across the chest. He whirled on his toes and swung his blade to another soldier, while Aranea dashed by his left to tackle three all at once with her lance aimed forward then pivoted for wider breadth. He pulled the trigger of his weapon and swung it once more, extruding shards of blizzard towards the army, knocking them farther back.

"Squall!" Aranea pointed at a blond Glaive struggling under his broadsword as he was being pushed by one of the Nif soldiers to the ground.

Squall sprinted towards the Glaive and quickly impaled the soldier with his gunblade, inducing a jerky seizure before falling to the ground. He stared at its strange manner of succumbing to its injury before turning to the Glaive. He was already on his feet, also watching his fallen attacker with incredulity before looking back at Squall.

They then glanced around at the rest of the chaos the Nifs brought to Insomnia— explosions, flames, gunfires, and each Glaive engaged in a fight with the invaders as they tried to bring the battle as far from the civilians as possible by way of warping.

Another of the ships stopped overhead and ejected more of the Nif soldiers. Squall and the Glaive looked at each other wordlessly before composing themselves for another battle.

* * *

"Your Majesty!"

Ignis rushed to King Regis' side just as he conjured specters of weapons encircling him like a protective cylinder. He felt the King glance at him before one of the swords from the royal arms shoot towards a Nif soldier.

With his daggers held across his chest in a defensive stance, Ignis looked over his shoulder.

"Your Majesty, the Regalia is already on its way. If you would just please allow me to escort you—"

"Is it? Well, good. Take the Regalia and leave this place. Immediately."

"I cannot simply do that, Your Majesty." Ignis struck an attacking soldier and did a pirouette to avert another attack. He pierced one dagger into the soldier's back before facing the King once more. "I'm sorry, but I must insist on securing your safety."

King Regis grinned. "I admire your sense of duty, Ignis." He whirled a Firaga spell at a group. "But you understand why I am asking you to leave, do you?"

Ignis opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by another soldier whose lance was able to strike his neck, only for the King's sword to parry it at the right moment. He stabbed the soldier through his shoulder and fiercely withdrew it.

"Go now, Ignis," King Regis repeated. "Go and try to save more as you do."

"But—"

"We both know who you should really be protecting. And that person is not me."

As if to demonstrate his power in battle, King Regis warped himself midair as the spectral weapons burst around him. He shot a scepter toward a group of Nif soldiers and warped towards it, causing a meteoric impact that knocked out multitude of them.

Ignis instinctively pushed his spectacles up his nose as he watched the King defeat an army single handedly and he knew then how futile it would be to insist upon taking the King out of the battle. After all, King Regis was right as he always had been, and his royal order was yet to be fulfilled. He turned around and ran towards the street to his East where he expected the Regalia would be.

He was about to make a turn when his path was suddenly blocked by another one of Niflheim's soldiers. He readied himself for battle when he was saved by a gunshot from a pale blond Glaive. He waved at Ignis to follow him and the latter obliged.

The Regalia, a sizable black convertible, was parked at an empty lot beside a roundabout and safely from the ongoing turmoil. Ignis and the Glaive jumped onto the car and shut the doors.

The driver, clad in black suit and cap hat, looked over to them from the driver's seat. "What happened?"

"Nifs are here," Ignis replied.

"Where is he?" The driver was more pressing.

Ignis was breathing heavily, his eyes averted from the driver. "I am under his orders to drive away from here and—"

The driver stepped on the gas and drifted around the roundabout, screeching the Regalia's tires before reaching the street leading back to the assembly hall. Having thrown to the side of his seat from the sudden swerve, Ignis grimaced and sat up, ignoring the spinning in his head. The blond Glaive glanced around his companions while a third Glaive, a black-haired man with more muscular built looked ahead worriedly as the smoke and dust thickened and the noises grew louder. The driver stopped the car and hurriedly stepped out.

The larger Glaive cursed and immediately followed the driver out of the car. The blond Glaive was about to step out as well when Ignis grasped his shoulder.

"Best be prepared, Prompto."

Prompto's brows rose. "Huh?"

"This is not what I am ordered to do. And I am not ready to explain myself to the King should things go awry."

Prompto nodded. "Hey, don't think like that just yet. It's not like we have much of a choice. We'll get through this."

Ignis smiled and nodded. They finally stepped out of the Regalia just as a Glaive was thrown to the ground in front of them. A blue flash of warp followed and a Glaive revealed who promptly knelt beside the fallen one. Prompto was about to tug Ignis into helping them when the latter walked away, glancing around the ashen place in search for someone. And Prompto knew exactly who. So when he finally spotted the Glaive and the driver in battle with the Nif soldiers, he pointed at them.

"Over there!"

Upon seeing them himself, Ignis nodded at Prompto and both sprinted to their side. The driver swung his blade and sliced through the soldier's arm then, at the slightest of second, he quickly dodged an oncoming bullet from another soldier.

"Gladio!" the driver called at the muscular Glaive.

Gladio hammered his broadsword to the ground, heaving the soldiers from the ground, then swung his weapon midair to cut through them and propel them further away. Upon clearing their area, Prompto and Ignis recognized a blond Glaive and a brunette in black suit, both unconscious on their backs and their blades in hands.

Ignis' eyes widened at the brunette. "Squall Loire!"

"Yeah, figured that much," Gladio said purposely.

Prompto looked around. "Aranea should be around here too, then."

"She might be engaged somewhere," Ignis said. He knelt beside Squall and surveyed him for injuries. "He seems fine. Just bruised and knocked out. A potion or Esthar's own magic can fix them."

Prompto tipped his head at the blond Glaive lying beside Squall. "And the Glaive?"

"We will include him under our care with the other Glaives we encountered earlier. In the meantime…"

The three of them turned to the driver who was glancing restlessly at the ground of war. The torrents of warping from different directions have made it more difficult to spot anyone from the pandemonium. Not even the King himself.

"Guys?"

Ignis and Gladio turned to Prompto whose voice had suddenly gone weaker. He fell on his knees and slumped face down on the ground. Ignis was about to take a closer look when he felt a faint puncture on his neck. His sight blurred and the noises faded as quickly as they came.

* * *

The sudden gasp of air and the cough that followed from the dust and smoke she inhaled shot an unequivocal pain in her head. Aranea groaned and winced tightly with her mouth open. She reached at the back of her head and slowly checked her fingers for blood. There was none.

She pushed her sore arms against the ground and cursed at her tight elaborate dress for not making it any easier for her as she staggered to get on her feet. She looked around and cursed once more at the damage the attack had done on this part of Insomnia— debris of large rubble, smoke, and dust had cascaded over what once was one of the proud crowning glories of the city. She tightened her grip and realized that her lance was still in her hand, among other things that preceded her sudden unconscious state. She was in a fight with Nif soldiers and she was outnumbered. But it wasn't their volume that overpowered her, rather a swift knock on her head.

"Shit," she hissed and looked around, limping away from where she last laid. Glaives were lifting each other up, while some laid motionless among the wreckage and the lifeless invaders. The fight was over, that one was certain at least. But her heart would keep pounding in her chest unless she found whom she was looking for.

"Squall!" she called. And called again. She limped more furiously and called his name more loudly. More desperately. Her heart was beating more loudly and ready to burst out of her for every moment she called for his name, for every attempt to scan the grounds for any sight of him.

But she never found him.

* * *

Rinoa shot her head up and gasped.

Her arms intuitively felt around her desk as her bleary eyes blankly scanned at the papers and books in front of her. She glanced around from where she sat and realized that she was surrounded by shelves of books, promptly remembering further that she had chosen to sit at one of the hidden corners of the library. She briefly thanked herself for that, for it saved her from any possible admonishing from the snide librarian for sleeping, albeit unintentionally.

She glanced at her watch. It was almost four in the afternoon on a Wednesday. Which meant she had no further classes to attend to. Which meant she could go home.

But why couldn't she stand?

And why couldn't she breathe?

She stretched her arms over the desk and clenched her fists tightly then opening them. She forced herself to take a deep breath and closed her eyes. She exhaled smoothly, and that was good. It meant she had better control of herself. She inhaled again, more relaxed this time. And she heard it.

Screaming. Shooting. Slicing. Killing. Pain. Numbness.

Then darkness.

She exhaled quickly and shakily, eyes widened.

"Cloud," she whispered.

**Author's Note:**

> I sincerely would like to dedicate this story to my good pal Naya who is about to slap me again for publishing a new story without finishing the others (yet).


End file.
